Not trying to thread-jack here, but can anyone tell me why I'm not seeing graphics such as the news source and 'tags' (ironic, Florida, amusing and such) and also why not only the graphics don't display, but none of the inline links are 'clickable' and all pictures posted inline are just blank boxes with the typical 'broken image' icon in the upper-left. Just started happening this morning. Nothing has changed on my end.

SOONG: Oh, well. All right, that's enough. Sit down. (he inspects a plant) Beautiful, beautiful. You know, I've been able to keep track of you from time to time. You've become something of a celebrity in cybernetic circles. Data, why Starfleet?DATA: Sir?SOONG: I gave you the ability to choose whatever you wanted. To do whatever you wanted. Why Starfleet?DATA: It was Starfleet officers who rescued me.SOONG: Ah. So you decided to emulate your emancipators, huh? How disappointing.DATA: What choice of vocation would have met with your approval, sir?SOONG: Well, I often hoped you might become a scientist. Perhaps even a cyberneticist.DATA: To follow in your footsteps, as it were?SOONG: I see nothing wrong with that.DATA: May I ask you a question, sir?SOONG: Certainly. Anything you like.DATA: Why did you create me?SOONG: Why does a painter paint? Why does a boxer box? You know what Michelangelo used to say? That the sculptures he made were already there before he started, hidden in the marble. All he needed to do was remove the unneeded bits. It wasn't quite that easy with you, Data. But the need to do it, my need to do it, was no different than Michelangelo's need. Now let me ask you a question. Why are humans so fascinated by old things?DATA: Old things?SOONG: Old buildings, churches, walls, ancient things, antique things, tables, clocks, knick knacks. Why? Why, why?DATA: There are many possible explanations.SOONG: If you brought a Noophian to Earth, he'd probably look around and say, tear that old village down, it's hanging in rags. Build me something new, something efficient. But to a human, that old house, that ancient wall, it's a shrine, something to be cherished. Again, I ask you, why?DATA: Perhaps, for humans, old things represent a tie to the past.SOONG: What's so important about the past? People got sick, they needed money. Why tie yourself to that?DATA: Humans are mortal. They seem to need a sense of continuity.SOONG: Ah hah!! Why?DATA: To give their lives meaning. A sense of purpose.SOONG: And this continuity, does it only run one way, backwards, to the past?DATA: I suppose it is a factor in the human desire to procreate.SOONG: So you believe that having children gives humans a sense of immortality, do you?DATA: It is a reasonable explanation to your query, sir.SOONG: And to yours as well, Data.

Kumana Wanalaia:SOONG: Oh, well. All right, that's enough. Sit down. (he inspects a plant) Beautiful, beautiful. You know, I've been able to keep track of you from time to time. You've become something of a celebrity in cybernetic circles. Data, why Starfleet?DATA: Sir?SOONG: I gave you the ability to choose whatever you wanted. To do whatever you wanted. Why Starfleet?DATA: It was Starfleet officers who rescued me.SOONG: Ah. So you decided to emulate your emancipators, huh? How disappointing.DATA: What choice of vocation would have met with your approval, sir?SOONG: Well, I often hoped you might become a scientist. Perhaps even a cyberneticist.DATA: To follow in your footsteps, as it were?SOONG: I see nothing wrong with that.DATA: May I ask you a question, sir?SOONG: Certainly. Anything you like.DATA: Why did you create me?SOONG: Why does a painter paint? Why does a boxer box? You know what Michelangelo used to say? That the sculptures he made were already there before he started, hidden in the marble. All he needed to do was remove the unneeded bits. It wasn't quite that easy with you, Data. But the need to do it, my need to do it, was no different than Michelangelo's need. Now let me ask you a question. Why are humans so fascinated by old things?DATA: Old things?SOONG: Old buildings, churches, walls, ancient things, antique things, tables, clocks, knick knacks. Why? Why, why?DATA: There are many possible explanations.SOONG: If you brought a Noophian to Earth, he'd probably look around and say, tear that old village down, it's hanging in rags. Build me something new, something efficient. But to a human, that old house, that ancient wall, it's a shrine, something to be cherished. Again, I ask you, why?DATA: Perhaps, for humans, old things represent a tie to the past.SOONG: What's so important about the past? People got sick, they needed money. Why tie yourself to that?DATA: Humans are mortal. They seem to need a sense of continuity.SOONG: Ah hah!! Why?DATA: To give their lives meaning. A sense of purpose.SOONG: And this continuity, does it only run one way, backwards, to the past?DATA: I suppose it is a factor in the human desire to procreate.SOONG: So you believe that having children gives humans a sense of immortality, do you?DATA: It is a reasonable explanation to your query, sir.SOONG: And to yours as well, Data.

I always thought Soong was kind of an a-hole in that exchange. He says Data's choice to "emulate his emancipators" is "disappointing." But what he goes on to say is essentially "I'm disappointed you didn't want to be me." He's not disappointed that Data didn't make a wholly free choice uncluttered by what might be called "sentimentalism." He's disappointed that the sentimentalism didn't go his way. And he passive-aggressively takes that out on Data.

/also, Data was incapable of sentimentalism when he made that choice, so the explanation doesn't make a lot of sense either. I cannot think of a purely logic-driven reason why Data would choose his profession based on "emulat[ing] his emancipators," so either it's a flaw in the writing, or Data's evolution away from pure logic began a lot earlier than otherwise portrayed.

buzzcut73:drxym: "The rotting old bridge, built in 1972 based on a historic design dating back to the 19th century "

So not really 19th century, just a rotten old bridge.

Yeah, it sounds like the ax that's been in my family for five generations...we've replaced the handle 4 times and the head 3 but its an heirloom.

Yeah I read the article expecting outrage over destroying something with actual historic value. Instead ornamental bridge in recreation area, that has been replaced every 40 years being replaced, with one everyone can use. City saves money by having students do the grunt work. Nothing dastardly going on here.

Is this like typical Engineering Schools where the focus is primarily math, then when they actually try a design project, it looks like a 3rd grader's first attempt?

It's akin to the way residents are hazed with horrific hours, engineering students suffer through horrific math to prove they're capable of technical understanding; it doesn't make them better engineers, that happens on the job at the companies expense.

Tom_Slick:Yeah I read the article expecting outrage over destroying something with actual historic value. Instead ornamental bridge in recreation area, that has been replaced every 40 years being replaced, with one everyone can use. City saves money by having students do the grunt work. Nothing dastardly going on here.

Article is from the "Torygraph": local government is doing something well and cheaply (and also Change!) which runs counter to their world view. So bridge much be wrong. QED.

AllYourFarkAreBelongToMeNot trying to thread-jack here, but can anyone tell me why I'm not seeing graphics such as the news source and 'tags' (ironic, Florida, amusing and such) and also why not only the graphics don't display, but none of the inline links are 'clickable' and all pictures posted inline are just blank boxes with the typical 'broken image' icon in the upper-left. Just started happening this morning. Nothing has changed on my end.

Sounds like you're blocking image from img.fark.net.In descending order of likeliness:

brimed03:Kumana Wanalaia: SOONG: Oh, well. All right, that's enough. Sit down. (he inspects a plant) Beautiful, beautiful. You know, I've been able to keep track of you from time to time. You've become something of a celebrity in cybernetic circles. Data, why Starfleet?...I always thought Soong was kind of an a-hole in that exchange. He says Data's choice to "emulate his emancipators" is "disappointing." But what he goes on to say is essentially "I'm disappointed you didn't want to be me." He's not disappointed that Data didn't make a wholly free choice uncluttered by what might be called "sentimentalism." He's disappointed that the sentimentalism didn't go his way. And he passive-aggressively takes that out on Data.

/also, Data was incapable of sentimentalism when he made that choice, so the explanation doesn't make a lot of sense either. I cannot think of a purely logic-driven reason why Data would choose his profession based on "emulat[ing] his emancipators," so either it's a flaw in the writing, or Data's evolution away from pure logic began a lot earlier than otherwise portrayed.

Before the rights of artificial life forms were codified by Starfleet JAG Philippa Louvois and Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 2365, the only two career options available to androids were Starfleet officer and bender.

/Personally, I think Data made the right choice. Lore would have made a decent bender, though.

Given that this is literally a varsity sport with a national league managed by civil engineering departments and the national Civil Engineering guild, I would guess you can probably get as many CivE's as you want in on it.

There is no mention of who is making the bridge's essence - the iron parts.

Did the iron really need to be replaced? If not new wood could have been installed as had been done ever since the bridge was first built.

Are you blind? I followed your link to wikipedia which has a picture of the "Iron Bridge", which is a completely different bridge that looks, other than the basic bridgey sort of shape, nothing like the one in TFA.

Jim_Callahan:Given that this is literally a varsity sport with a national league managed by civil engineering departments and the national Civil Engineering guild, I would guess you can probably get as many CivE's as you want in on it.

I am not even slightly kidding.

It's fun too. Next year will be my third and last year competing.

There are teams (not ours) that can slap together a hundred pound bridge in five or six minutes that holds 2,500 pounds.

There was a doctor, an engineer, and a politician that went out golfing every week. Each week they always had to try and "one better" the others. One week, they got to arguing over who had the smartest dog. At the 19th hole, they agreed to a wager and to bring their dogs to the course the next week for a competition between the dogs.

The day comes and they are each there with their dogs. The doctor says that he will go first, so he addresses his dog.

"Stethoscope! Fetch a bag of bones from the cart and assemble a human skeleton here before us."

The dog barks and does as he was commanded. An hour later, there was a complete and accurate human skeleton standing before them.

The engineer goes next.

"Slide Rule! Tear down that skeleton and build me a bridge that will support the three of us."

His dog barks and proceeds to build the bridge. The three men climb onto it and it does in fact, support them.

The politician's turn was next.

"Bullshiat! Heel! Do your thing."

The dog screws the other two dogs, eats all the bones, and takes the rest of the day off.